


The Autumn Moon is Bright

by ereshai



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Getting Together, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 00:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13202283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: On a mission that isn't as straightforward as it seems, Clint learns a secret that will change his life forever.





	The Autumn Moon is Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeganMoonlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganMoonlight/gifts).



> My first idea for your gift didn't end up working out, so I started this one at the last minute. I hope you like it!

_“Phil, I’m scared.”_

~

**Now**

Phil checks his watch; it’s almost midnight. The woods are unnaturally silent – he’s close. There’s a _tap-tap_ over the comms and he taps three times in confirmation. He steps out from behind a tree, moving quietly, though he’s not trying to hide his presence. Ahead of him is a clearing, awash with moonlight.

In the center of the clearing is a wolf laying on his side. A twig snaps – not Phil’s doing – and the wolf raises his head. Phil freezes. The wolf rolls to his belly and tucks his legs under his body, then lifts his nose to catch the scents carried on the slight breeze that’s ruffling his fur. Luckily, Phil is downwind.

The wolf gets to his feet and takes a few hesitant steps toward the trees, away from where Phil is standing.

~

**Before**

“Delta One, I’m in position,” Clint whispered. He checked his sight lines again – there was a tree branch obscuring part of the window that looked into the room where his target was going to be, but it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Copy that, Delta Three. Delta Two is standing by. You have a green light.”

Clint had to smile at Coulson’s no-nonsense mission voice. Ten minutes before, Coulson had been telling slightly off-color stories about various missions he’d been on and the agents he’d worked with. Clint now knew that Sitwell snored like a freight train and farted just as loud, which was more than he had ever cared to know. But telling them had put a smile on Coulson’s face and Clint didn’t think about why that was such a good thing.

The target passed in front of the window, pulling at the knot of his tie. Clint waited; if the man stayed true to form, he would soon be standing right where Clint wanted him, a drink in one hand while he contemplated his next criminal act that would result in the ruination and deaths of innocent people. (That last part was pure conjecture on Clint’s part – he probably just liked the view and never gave his victims a second thought.)

It would be a relief to finally put this mission to bed. The whole thing had been weird from day one – strange weapons protocols to follow, an unusual lack of detailed intel, abrupt silences whenever he walked in on Coulson talking to HQ. Only a few years ago, that last one would have sent Clint running for the hills, but Coulson – and SHIELD – had proven that they weren’t going to screw Clint over or sell him out. He understood the concept of classified information, and he could put up with weird.

The target returned to the window, drink in hand, as expected. Clint took aim and squeezed the trigger. The glass shattered and the target’s head snapped back. Clint fired again and the target took a few stumbling steps back and crumpled to the floor.

“Target down,” Clint whispered.

“Pack it in and get back to the rendezvous point ASAP,” came the swift response.

Clint stowed his rifle in its case and strapped it to his back. He checked his surroundings, then quickly began to climb down the tree that had served as his perch. He wasn’t sure what made him glance back toward the target’s house, but he turned his head just in time to see a large dog – wolf? – jump through the broken window and start running in his direction.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. “Boss, I know the guy doesn’t have security dogs, but did he have a pet? Like a big fuck-off dog? ‘Cause there’s one coming my way.”

There was an indrawn hiss. “Are you on the ground, Barton?”

“Getting there.” Something was wrong. Coulson never forgot comms protocol.

“Don’t. Go up, as high as you can. I’m coming to you.”

“Because of a dog?” Clint asked, but he started climbing up again.

“Not a dog,” Coulson said. “I’m on my way. Do not engage.”

“Why would I engage with a not-a-dog?” Clint wondered. Coulson didn’t answer.

Clint climbed, pausing briefly where he had waited to take his shot to check on the not-a-dog. It was gaining ground fast, faster than Clint had expected. He went higher – he didn’t think dogs could climb trees, but who knew with not-a-dogs. “So,” he said casually, “what is this thing? Cyborg? Robot? Alien?”

Coulson didn’t answer; in fact, there was absolutely nothing over the comms, not even the slight hum of static that always accompanied an open channel.

“Oh, shit.” Clint’s gut churned. He climbed higher. When the branches got too thin to bear his weight, he stopped and looked down.

The not-a-dog – which was definitely a wolf now that he had a better view of it – was circling the base of his tree. It ran at the trunk and scrabbled up a few feet, its nails biting into the bark.

“Damn, you’re huge,” he said. The wolf looked up at him and snarled. “Same to you, buddy.”

The wolf stilled, then began to shudder. It whined, high-pitched, and then Clint’s vision blurred. He blinked and there was a naked man kneeling where the wolf had been. Clint stared.

“Werewolf. I did not call that one.”

The man stood up and bared his teeth at him. “Coward. I’m going to kill you,” he spat and began to climb the tree. Clint recognized the man from his briefing packet; the target’s second in command, who was supposedly five hundred miles away. Looked like Strike Team Beta was not taking out its target tonight after all.

Clint pulled his sidearm from his thigh holster and took aim. Before he could fire, a second wolf came out of the trees. It ran straight at the tree, jumped up beneath the man and latched onto his leg, pulling him down to the ground. They fell heavily and the new wolf lost its grip on the man.

The man didn’t make a sound, just rolled to his belly. Man and wolf stared at each other. The man’s lip curled. “Flesh for flesh, claw for claw. Are you going to break this law too?”

The second wolf did that weird blurry shudder and then Coulson was kneeling in its place.

“No Laws were broken.” Clint absently noted the capital letter in Coulson’s voice. Werewolves were a thing. Coulson was a werewolf.

“You killed the Alpha,” the man snarled. “With a bullet – silver and wolfsbane – like a _human._ ”

That explained the strange weapons protocols. Fuck, who else at SHIELD was a werewolf? Coulson was running the op, but every weird part of it had come through official channels, including the ammunition Clint had used.

“He broke human laws, he was a danger to humans. So we dealt with him like one.”

With a roar, the man launched himself at Coulson. His hands were claws and his teeth were elongated, like he was shifting between his man and wolf forms. Coulson met his charge and they wrestled on the ground, clawing and hitting each other.

Cautiously, Clint began to climb down. Coulson could probably handle this, but the whole werewolf thing wasn’t going to stop Clint from backing him up. He’d freak out about it later. He got to the lowest branch and stopped. He’d be out of the way there, but still able to jump in to help if Coulson needed it.

Unfortunately his presence did not go unnoticed.

“Got yourself a pet?” the man taunted. He and Coulson were circling each other, each breathing heavily. They were both bloody, though they had no wounds to show for it. “He stinks like you.”

“If you want to lodge a formal protest-“ Coulson began. The man leapt through the air – not at Coulson, but at Clint. He pulled Clint out of the tree and as soon as they landed he wrapped a steely arm around him, holding him in place against his chest.

Clint immediately went into action, but none of his moves – not even the ones Natasha had taught him – could counter the man’s sheer strength.

“You should take better care of your things,” the man said to Coulson. Clint was getting sick of his tone and the things he was implying. While the man’s attention was on Coulson, he slipped his knife out of its sheath. It might not do much against a werewolf, but he could at least wound him enough to get away. Probably.

“Let him go,” Coulson said in a low voice. Clint was glad Coulson had never been that mad at him. He jammed the knife into the man’s thigh. The man grunted and dropped his arm, but before Clint could pull away, the man grabbed him by the upper arms and lifted him until his feet were dangling a few inches above the ground.

“You take from me, I take from you,” the man said and fiery pain lanced through Clint’s whole body, starting where his neck met his shoulder. Then he was flying through the air – not under his own power – and he hit the ground. Everything went black.

~

**Now**

Phil holds his breath. The wolf stops. Something catches his attention and he turns back.

There’s no way he won’t notice Phil standing there.

~

**Before**

Clint woke up in Medical. Not the first time that had ever happened, but it was the first time he’d woken up there without so much as a twinge of pain. The good drugs couldn’t make him feel _that_ good, plus he remembered exactly what had landed him here. He looked around and found Director Fury sitting at his bedside – another first.

“Are you a werewolf?” he blurted. Maybe it had all been a dream.

Fury nodded. “I am.”

Okay, not a dream. “Am I a werewolf?” He thought he already knew the answer.

“You are.”

Clint closed his eyes. “Shit.”

“You have some decisions to make.” Clint wished Fury could have beat around the bush a little, maybe eased him into this a bit. Just this once, Clint would not have minded having a little sunshine blown up his ass.

“I sure hope you’re going to lay them out for me, because I’ve got no clue what my options are.”

“First of all, there’s no cure.”

Clint sighed. “I kinda thought so. Am I- Will I be dangerous?”

Fury tilted his head. “You were already dangerous.”

“I mean out of control dangerous.”

“It’s a possibility. New wolves learn control fairly quickly though. I can only recall one case of a new SHIELD wolf going feral.”

Clint sat up in the bed. “What happened?”

“We had to put him down.”

Clint looked away. “Good. That’s… good to know.”

“The SHIELD pack is large. I’m confident you would fit in if you decide to join us.”

“If?” Clint faced Fury again.

“We’re not going to make you join our pack if you’d rather not, Barton.”

“Would I still be a SHIELD agent if I don’t join your pack?”

Fury shook his head. “It’s not a situation we’ve ever encountered. I’m not sure if it would work.”

“So if I want to stay at SHIELD, I have to become part of your pack.”

“Slow down. I said I wasn’t sure. You joining the pack would be the easiest thing for everyone involved, but I’m not going to force it on you. Having a lone wolf among us would be difficult, but it’s not an impossibility.”

“Okay. Stay at SHIELD, join the pack. Stay at SHIELD, don’t join the pack, which may or may not work out. What are my other options?”

“You join another pack, which would involve leaving SHIELD. Or we teach you what you need to know and you take off on your own.”

“Which would also involve leaving SHIELD.”

“Yes.”

Clint rubbed his face. “I need to think about this for a while.”

“Of course. In fact, I insist. I wouldn’t accept a decision you made right at this moment anyway.”

“Do I have to stay here?” Clint waved at the room. “Or can I go back to my quarters?”

“You’re not a prisoner, Barton.” Fury stood up. “I do ask that you stay on base for now, though. For your safety and the safety of others.”

“Not a prisoner,” Clint muttered. “Just don’t try to leave.”

“You’re restricted to base. Would you like some leg irons instead? To go along with your persecution complex?”

Clint sighed and shook his head.

“Your life has just changed dramatically. Take some time, wrap your head around it all. If you have any questions, you can come to me or Coulson. Sound fair?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.” Fury turned to leave.

“Sir?” Clint said before he went out the door. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Agent Barton. For what it’s worth, I hope you decide to stay. We’d hate to lose you.”

Once Fury was gone, Clint lay back down, his arm flung over his eyes.

Werewolves, packs, that was all abstract right now. What it really boiled down to was one decision – stay at SHIELD or leave. Once he decided that, the rest would follow.

He had some thinking to do.

~

**Now**

The wolf – Clint – approaches him warily. Phil drops his gaze.

Another wolf walks into the clearing and the world goes still.

Everything depends on the next few moments.

~

**Before**

Phil was driving; Clint was next to him in the passenger seat. He fought the urge to reach over and take Phil’s hand or put his hand on Phil’s thigh.

At first he’d thought it was a werewolf thing, this wanting to touch Phil all the time. But he didn’t have the same urge with any of the other werewolves. Which was fine with Clint because the thought of being all touchy-feely with Sitwell or Hill or even Fury made him uncomfortable.

No, this was just his old crush on Phil coming back to life. The one he’d almost completely repressed because Phil had given off the strongest ‘not-interested’ vibes Clint had ever seen. That had all changed since the werewolf encounter almost three weeks ago. Now he got to call Phil by his first name. Now they hung out at Phil’s apartment. Now Phil smiled at him all the time. If getting turned into a werewolf had made Phil drop his guard and allow them to become friends – well, Clint was starting to be okay with that.

Now he just had to figure out how to repress his crush again.

They were in the middle of nowhere, which apparently was where you trained new werewolves. The ‘training facility’ was basically a forest with a lot of room to run around in, surrounded by a ten-foot high chain link fence topped with barbed wire.

“That’s not going to keep me in,” Clint said when he saw it.

“Keeping you in isn’t the problem. We’re more concerned with keeping other people out.” Phil showed his ID to the gate guard and then they were inside the fence. ”You’d be surprised how many people come across a chain link fence in a forest and decide they need to see what’s on the other side.”

“Probably not,” Clint said with a grin, which quickly faded. “So you don’t think I’ll try to escape?”

“It’s not a cage, Clint. And you’ll be so busy figuring out how to use your new body and interpreting what your senses are telling you, you probably won’t even move around too much at first.”

“And when… the thing with Fury, the pack thing, when is that?”

“Two nights.”

Clint nodded and took a deep breath. “Phil, I’m scared.”

“It’ll be fine, Clint.” Phil pulled into a parking space outside of a small building. He reached over and took Clint’s hand. “You want to be part of the pack. We want you to be part of the pack. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“That not what Sitwell said.”

“Sitwell tends to focus on negative outcomes. It’s why he’s so good at coming up with backup plans on the fly.”

“But it’s possible, right? That I’ll be rejected? Or that I’ll reject the pack?”

“It’s a very small possibility. It’s happened once that I’ve ever heard about.”

“The feral wolf that had to be put down?”

“ _No_. And that’s not going to happen to you either,” Phil said firmly. “Listen, you’re still thinking of the wolf part of you as a separate entity. You’re still you when you’re a wolf. You’ll see.”

“Okay.” Clint looked down at their linked hands. “Probably going to need that hand back,” he said reluctantly.

“In a minute,” Phil said. “Clint, I- Next weekend, would you like to go out to dinner with me?”

“What?” That was the last thing he ever expected to come out of Phil’s mouth.

“To celebrate you officially joining the pack.”

Clint’s heart sank. Of course it was too good to be true.

“But also as a date. If you want to.”

Clint stared at him.

“It doesn’t have to be a date.” Phil added. “I’d like it if it was, though.”

“Yes,” Clint said before Phil could change his mind. “I’d like that too. A date, I mean.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have- Not right before your first shift.”

Clint smiled. “Nah, it’s the perfect time. Something to look forward to, right?”

“Right.” Phil lifted Clint’s hand to his mouth and pressed a warm kiss on the back. “Ready?”

Clint nodded. “Ready.”

~

**Now**

The second wolf – Fury – circles Clint slowly. Across the clearing, Phil sees Maria step into view, then Jasper off to her right. One by one, other SHIELD werewolves enter the clearing until they form a loose circle with the two wolves in the center.

Clint’s ears go back as he turns to keep Fury in sight. Finally, Fury stops and stands completely still. Clint goes to his belly and creeps forward, a low whine in his throat. He stops at Fury’s feet and lays his head on his paws. His tail thumps the ground a couple of times. Fury lowers his head and sniffs Clint’s head. Then he gives him a swift lick and flops down next to him.

Phil heaves a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been seriously worried, but he’s glad it’s finally over. He removes his comm unit and his watch, then starts unbuttoning his shirt. Around him, everyone else is doing the same. As soon as he’s naked, he calls his wolf and lets the change wash over him. It’s time for the pack to celebrate their newest member. And if Phil pushes his way through the other wolves to take the place at Clint’s side, well, everyone will figure out why soon enough.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from "Howl" by Florence + the Machine.


End file.
